


An Apology

by o0JayWolf0o



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Child Abuse, Gore, Physical Abuse, Pizza, Strifing, winks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 13:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0JayWolf0o/pseuds/o0JayWolf0o
Summary: Strifing with Bro was always hard. It was a surprise when, after a particularly rough fight, Dave was given something akin to an apology.





	An Apology

**Author's Note:**

> i whipped this together real fast s orry

You stared at the note on the fridge, shoulders tense and face tight. Bro wanted to strife.

You could live with this, you guess. You hadn’t strifed in about three days and were ready to challenge him. You think you might beat him this time- something is telling you this fight will go different, anyway. That would be so cool. Bro would be so proud.

You began checking your strife deck to be sure you had two katanas prepared (in case one breaks mid-strife; Bro won’t stop for something so small) before glancing toward the entrance to the apartment.

It was open, and you made your way over to the exit and up the stairs. Before you made it to the roof, you stretched quickly, popping your knuckles before jumping up the last set of stairs.

Bro was sitting on the edge of the building, facing you when you stepped foot on the ceiling. Immediately, you gripped your katana, squinting against the bright sun and focusing on the way Bro twitched slightly. Okay. Left, then right, and then he’d... Yeah. Okay, you got this.

As you predicted, Bro flashstepped left, then right and then forward, leaping down with his blade outstretched to slice the skies. You rolled under him, managing to nick his ankle a bit. Good, you were making progress. You didn’t twirl around, because you knew he’d appear in front of you. When he did, you jumped as his blade swung where you had been before bringing it down the same way he had moments before. 

He disappeared for a moment and you ducked as you landed, feeling his blade chop off a sliver of your fine, white hair. Quickly, you flashstepped right, then back, before charging at him and taking a left.

He and your swords crashed, grinding against each other until you slid your own down to his shoulder. Again, you nicked him, but hissed as a sharp pain burst from your arm. Whatever, you’d deal with it later. Focus. 

Bro was gone, but you could tell by the tiny gust of wind he made that he was behind you. You spun halfway backward before turning back forward, meeting his gaze with a grimace of your own as sweat slid down your face.

You continued like this, dodging him and occasionally nicking him. He soon disappeared for about 30 seconds, allowing you a small break before announcing his presence with a cut to your back.

That was okay, though. You were doing  _ good _ , better than you ever had before. You’d never really beaten Bro, but you felt like you might be able to now.

Then you did it. You cut into his arm a bit deep- of course, nothing compared to what he’d done to you before, but it was a victory for you. You’re not sure what happened after that- just a flash of black all around you, with you flinching this way and that, before a white flash of pain caused you to cry out. You heaved a breath, dropping your sword as Bro disappeared inside. You sucked in air through gritted teeth, placing a hand on your shoulder and wincing.

That was a lot of blood. A lot.

You felt your vision waver and you stumbled down the stairs, into the bathroom, and onto the toilet before you passed out. You wrapped your shoulder up (which was still gushing blood) with bandages before you lost consciousness.

When you woke up, the ace bandages had tightened a bit but were slightly damp with red. You cleaned yourself up, making sure not to use your left arm (admittedly hard, but it felt like hell), before crawling to your room.

You hadn’t strifed Bro for two months afterward. You figured it was his silent way of telling you “good job, Dave, you almost beat me this time”. You had skipped school for two weeks, too, only going back when Bro complained about the teacher calls. You wore a stiff arm those days, and avoided questions asked about it.

Finally, you were laying on the couch one Tuesday night. Bro was gone, and it was quiet, save for the rumbling of your stomach and the creaking of the floorboards. You shifted, straining your ears as a new sound resonated through your house. You quickly told Rose to hold up, pocketed your phone, and dashed to your room as you recognized footsteps meeting stairs. Bro was home.

You clicked the door shut silently and stood tense, next to it, hand ready to grab your katana at any given moment as the footsteps approached. You were surprised to hear panting, and a knock at the door. A knock? It confused you- Bro  _ never _ knocked, and he never was that loud going up the stairs.

After a few moments the knock came again, so you scrambled to unlock your door and quietly approach the front door. You opened it, looking up in surprise and wincing at the pain in your left shoulder. A pizza delivery guy was standing in the doorway. “Uh, Mr. Hardin?” the guy asked.

Mr. Hardin. That was your neighbor, right? It was a familiar name. Nonetheless, you nodded. No way you were turning this down. “He’s in his bedroom,” you spoke, glancing at a wad of cash that was sticking up from the couch. Bro probably left that for you.

“Okay, here, he payed in advance, so...” The delivery guy handed you the pizza before shutting the door. Your eyebrows shot up and you stared at the box, dumbfounded.

Realizing where you were, you darted into your room, careful to make sure the scent of pizza didn’t linger in the living room for long, before grabbing the cash. There was no note with it, per usual.

Your stomach growled as you stared at the box of pizza. You opened it, eyes shining, before you grimaced. Who the  _ fuck _ puts pineapples on pizza? You had half a mind to chuck it out your window, but the hunger in your belly protested.

You grabbed a slice of your stolen pizza and picked off all the pineapples before digging in. Soon after that first slice, you munched on a second, then a third, until you had wolfed down the entire pizza. You were so fucking full, you don’t think you could down a bottle of water. 

You did anyways, though, because you were really thirsty. It was _hot_. Staring at the pile of pineapples, you shut the box of pizza and shoved it under your bed, turning your fan on and opening your window to rid the scent of the meal.

You hadn’t eaten this well in a while. The thought of Bro finding out about this scared you, but god  _ damn _ were you going to pass up a whole box of pizza? No.

As you fell asleep that night, only after chucking the box out the window, you recalled seeing a stolen ID in the living room once. It had the name ‘Mr. Hardin' scrawled on it, and you couldn’t help but think..

_ Could Bro have bought this for you as an apology? _

**Author's Note:**

> ashiet  
> kudos and comments are nice wouldnt you agree


End file.
